indecisive
by eloquentstars
Summary: Sasuke is not a morning person. Fluff, SasuNaruSasu.


**indecisive**

Mornings or evenings, Sasuke cannot quite decide.

To be fair, nobody could blame him for being indecisive. After all, the differences are there, but subtle. Both are full of soft bed, and content barely-present smiles, and Naruto's presence. Both are full of Sasuke and Naruto listening to their hearts beating as one, stubborn little things.

Mornings _and_ evenings are calm, and slow, and lazy, and the veil of _dreams-to-come_ \- or _dreams-to-fade_ \- envelopes them in a tight embrace, seemingly yanking them to a parallel dimension, empty and warm, a place nobody knows except the two of them. It's private. It's intimate. It's a connection.

It is then, that Sasuke is most at peace - with himself, or the world; possibly his past, even - most grateful for the warm body lying beside him, his hand in Sasuke's, fingers intertwined. A soft squeeze to reassure him that _yes_ , this is real and this is happening.

No more illusions.

Naruto is here with him, always by his side - _as it should be -_ and he can't quite believe that after everything - _despite_ everything - he's allowed to fall asleep next to him, feeling his warmth. That he can press his face into the curve of Naruto's neck and hug him from behind in the middle of the night, when the nightmare - _revenge-regret-grief_ \- awakens him, like a bucket of cold water.

But then his hand finds Naruto's and Sasuke inches closer, his heartbeat slowing down.

Inhale. Exhale. Calm.

And sleep claims him once again, and nightmares may return, but they don't try to poison him anymore.

(Well, they do. Sasuke doesn't let them, though.)

In the morning, Sasuke's look is soft, unguarded. (Mornings are very different to whatever they used to be before. Then - cold, and tense, and exhausted, the sun still bellow the horizon. Now - warm, and long, and lazy.) He's mesmerized by the first thing he sees in the morning - Naruto's smile - and it makes something in his chest do this weird flop.

Naruto is a morning person the same way Sasuke is _not_ , so Naruto likes to lay in bed and play with Sasuke's hair until he wakes up. It's as if Naruto, too, cannot believe Sasuke is by his side, which is _stupid._

(Okay, maybe it isn't, not on Naruto's side. It's just that now, Sasuke cannot imagine _not_ being by his side, and every time Naruto casually mentions - jokes about Sasuke leaving, it stings him in his chest. Cannot Naruto _see,_ how much of an impact he has on Sasuke? Cannot he see, that for the first time, Sasuke has allowed himself to hold onto this thing between them - this bond, too?

But strangely enough, Sasuke _understands._ Naruto's fears of Sasuke leaving are not unfounded, after all.

 _Alright, I deserved that,_ he admits to himself silently, though his pride won't let him voice the thought aloud. He still is an Uchiha.)

Sometimes, when Naruto is gone for a long mission, Sasuke likes to sleep in Naruto's shirts, because they smell like him, calm him down, and ease the nightmares when Naruto isn't there. Sasuke decides he doesn't like _those_ mornings and evenings very much.

(Of course, he doesn't mope, and _do not_ let Naruto convince you he does under _any_ circumstances.)

But then he finally comes back, and when they're in the same bed once again, they find themselves lying on top of each other, and if Naruto is surprised at Sasuke's open affection, he doesn't say anything. _That's right,_ Sasuke thinks to himself, smug, _he better not be complaining._

And then they wake up like they fell asleep - Naruto first, as usual - and his face lights up with this _stupid_ smile of his, like it does every morning, and it makes Sasuke want to kiss his face like there's no tomorrow, it makes him frustrated.

Sasuke _hates_ it.

Naruto, notices his stares one morning, after he wakes up. He turns to Sasuke with a shit-eating grin and says _,_ "Dude, your face looks disgustingly sappy," instead of a 'good morning'. _Well, that's the dobe for you._

To which Sasuke splutters, because _no._ He's Uchiha Sasuke, he is _not_ a sap. It's physically impossible for him to sap. That's supposed to be _Naruto's_ role.

So, eloquent as ever, Sasuke grunts out, "Shut up, _usuratonkachi._ You're delusional," but his eyes betray him, and he cannot quite look away. He quietly damns them to hell.

Naruto quirks an eyebrow, eyes amused. "Hmm, is that so?" he asks, and Sasuke answers, deadly serious, "Definitely."

"Huh, I guess I am, then," and his eyes reflect the same _softness_ that can be seen in Sasuke's, and everything is _right._ Naruto continues, "But so are you."

A soft chuckle escapes Sasuke's lips, no matter how hard he tries to hide it, which makes Naruto's face light up even more - if such a thing is possible. Sasuke can feel Naruto's chest rising under his cheek, every hitch of his breath, every chuckle, every laugh.

 _Feels nice,_ he admits. _More than nice._

"Mmm," he agrees, closing his eyes for five more minutes.

It's when he feels a soft press of lips against his forehead, and his mouth widening in a smile against his will, that Sasuke finally decides, _Mornings._

 _It's a close one, though._


End file.
